FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2010 BOOK WORLD


A troublingly modern 12th-century queen


by Carolyn See


filled with pitfalls and traps. Beautifully done, it can tell us about a slice of history; we can’t be sure if what we read is actually true (unless we check the fiction- al events against historical sourc- es), but still, such a novel can ex- ercise our minds, something like an intelligent crossword puzzle. If we’re lucky, we’re visited by a vision of what it may have been like in 15th-century Spain or 19th-century Africa or — in this case — the 12th century in what is now England and the South of France. If you’re the author, you can pick an obscure person to pin your story on and thereby exhibit your expertise in leather tanning or falconry or the brewing of beer. (“Kristin Lavransdatter” is the gold standard for this kind of book. By the time Nobel Prize- winner Sigrid Undset got through with that woman, read- ers felt they had put in a year or so living in a medieval Scandina- vian household.) Or the author can pick an important person, dig into the scholarship and come out the other side of this in- tellectual quest with mountains of history to put to use. The dis- advantage is that reality is apt to constrain imagination or leave the novelist with a lot of dullme- chanics. I once had a heartfelt conversation with the man who wrote the miniseries of “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” It became the curse of his life, he said, to be stuck writing scenes with a coach riding up the gravel path to the manor house and then turning around and driving back from the manor house. And so we have “Captive


T


Queen,” a novel by best-selling bi- ographer Alison Weir. Many of us know something about Eleanor of Aquitaine already. She was ac- tive in fostering troubadour po- etry, which was a literary side ef- fect of the Crusades and the tradi- tion of courtly love. Her vile-tempered husband, Henry II, threw her in prison on and off for years because she may have aided and abetted rebellion by two of her sons, Henry the Younger and Richard,


he historical novel is a strange genre: very de- manding on its author,


who grew up to be Lionheart. Af- ter Henry II finally died — and not a moment too soon; he seems to have been mean as a snake — Eleanor was accorded much love and respect. She seems, even from the highly stylized portraits of the day, to have been a striking- ly beautiful woman. But that’s pretty much it. According to this novel, she wanted to rule on an equal footing with Henry, to be a liberated woman, to be equal to her man, although I frankly doubt many women of those days declared their wishes to be liberated and equal, or if they did, it meant something oth- er than it does now. When the novel opens, Eleanor is mar- ried to King Louis of France, who is a wuss. She’d rather be mar- ried to Henry, 11 years her junior, who has ambitions to be king of England and put the Plantagenet dy- nasty on the map. El- eanor has some “tu- multuous thoughts” and remembers “cou- pling gloriously be- tween silken sheets” with Henry’s father, Geoffrey. Even though Louis “fumes,” when Eleanor sees Hen- ry she feels “the lust rising again in her. God, he was beddable!” She makes a few remarks “light- ly,” and then, “framed with a cas- cade of coppery tresses,” she, “the greatest heiress in Christendom,” finds herself in bed with Henry by page 17, and, for another 460 pages, we’re off to the races. The trouble is, as a rule, even if


CAPTIVE QUEEN A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine By Alison Weir Ballantine. 478 pp. $26


milksop farmwife to be cast aside: I am the sovereign Duch- ess of Aquitaine, and I will be de- ferred to as such! Do you heed me?” She’s pretty tenacious about it, actually. She reminds him again, “I am the Duchess of Aqui- taine, and I am fit for higher things than the company of wom- en and babies.” They spend years disagreeing, with Henry taking only an occasional breather to say things like, “I will write to the Pope, and to Frederick Barbaros- sa.... I will demand that the ex- communications be revoked.” Henry philanders, of course, remarking to a prospective mis- tress that “the only Hell is the one we make for ourselves on this earth. The rest is just a myth put about by the Church to frighten us into being good.” (That’s pretty hellbent, isn’t it, for someone who lives in the 12th cen- tury? Did he ever say anything like that, really?) Thomas Becket gets mur- dered, but that hap- pens offstage, and El-


they’re Eleanor of Aquitaine, women in history don’t do much. Eleanor does plenty of embroi- dery and gets lost in a labyrinth toward the end of the book, but most of the time she bickers un- ceasingly with Henry, who won’t let her rule Aquitaine, even though she wants to. “You and I are meant to be a part- nership,” she hec- tors him. “We agreed. I am no


eanor’s sons try to overthrow their father, but we never see how that works exactly. We do read a huge amount about what she is wearing on different occasions, because so many portraits of her remain, but 12th-century France could be the dark side of the moon for all we learn about it by the end of this book. (The citizens of Limoges are made to pull down the city walls be-


cause they get on the king’s nerves, but that promising scene is over in a page or two.) The author is frugal to a fault with her use of language. She re- cycles “lightly” and “tartly” as ad- verbs; she’s crazy about “thun- derous” and “glorious” as ad- jectives. She reuses “fumes” as a verb and “lust” as a noun. Her English is modern, and she must like it that way. Who’s at fault here? (Because


this isn’t a very wonderful book.) I think we have to pin the blame on Eleanor. She’s a historic figure, so she can’t be jolted too far out of that position. We don’t know all that much about what she actu- ally did. And who knows what the woman thought? She seems to have preferred her sons to her husband, but it’s hard to make a book about that. She spent a lot of her life within prison walls. It’s a good thing she had an extensive wardrobe! It’s not that the author doesn’t know everything about her subject, but that what she knows isn’t enough.


bookworld@washpost.com


See reviews book regularly for The Post.


Sunday in Outlook


 How Pearl Buck discovered and revealed China. A rational optimist explains how prosperity evolves.  Race, sex and secrets in the Jim Crow South.  An edible history of immigrant families in New York.  And a search for the sacred in modern India.


Hi, Carolyn: My brother and his partner of


six years have rented a beach house for a week this summer, and invited some family and friends along. I happily accepted because I love to spend time with my brother, and we live a plane ride apart.


He has since confided that his


partner has cheated, repeatedly, with men he met online, once in their shared home. He considered leaving the first two times, but now, the fifth time, he is looking the other way — which is his right. I used to really like his partner,


but now the thought of him makes my skin crawl. Can I back out of the trip without looking judgmental or alienating my brother? The beach house is fully paid for by my brother’s partner, who is wealthy and, by the way, also pays for pretty much everything major in my brother’s life since he is finishing up med school. Spending time somewhere on the partner’s dime is not something I want to do, and I’m not sure I can be fake-nice for several days. I also do not want to offend my brother . . . help!


Torn big sis


ALL HAIL: Glenn Close is among those who have played Eleanor.


KEN WORONER/SHOWTIME THEATER REVIEW


At Fort Fringe, X-Men mark the spot for ‘Superheroes Who Are Super’


by Fiona Zublin


The initial reaction of many people to the idea of staged readings of comic books would be, “Why would I ever go see that?” And if you’re no comic- book geek, that’s a perfectly nor- mal and healthy reaction. If, however, you love comic books to the extent that you under- stand the concept of the Rain- bow Batman, that you remem- ber when Superman claimed to have super-weaving powers, that you can name the metal that forms Wolverine’s claws


and skeleton (adamantium) — well, you probably don’t even need to read this review, be- cause you’re going to enjoy peo- ple reading your favorite comic books aloud, right? Thus “Superheroes Who Are Super,” playing through Sunday at Fort Fringe. The concept is solid: Point up the works’ endearing and ridicu- lous plot lines and dialogue by reading them verbatim, drop in a few charmingly low-tech spe- cial effects and you’ve got a Fringe show. And indeed, the dialogue is amazing — the Joker (Vegas Lancaster) growling


“Don’t call me ‘pudding’!” at his pseudo girlfriend Harley Quinn (Brittany Holdahl) — and the ef- fects are spot-on, from mustach- es made of tape to a creative new way to represent a tank of pira- nhas. If Save the Day Produc- tions could make the pacing snappier, it would have a decent show. Please note that different comic books are staged depend- ing on the performance date, and that there will be no more performances of “Batman: Mad Love.” The final two shows at the Fringe are devoted to the un- canny X-Men.


style@washpost.com ‘Nite’ pokes good fun at ignominies of youth by Stephanie Merry


The words “middle school tal- ent show” are enough to make some people’s palms sweat. All those flashbacks: the braces, the acne, the uncertainty of whether to wear one’s backpack on one or both shoulders. It was a stressful time that can haunt many well into adulthood. But maybe it’s been just long enough to be funny now. At least that’s the idea behind “Ridgefield Middle School Tal- ent Nite,” playing on the Goe-


the-Institut main stage through July 25. The hour-long parade of awk- wardness feels a bit like the un- comfortable humor of “The Of- fice.” Seeing so many characters uneasy in their own skin can be hard to take, no matter how funny it may be. But the usual suspects are all here and all good for a laugh: the jaded as- sistant principal; the smug stu- dent body president; the goth girl, who reads from “The Ra- ven” and makes her entrance to the sounds of Evanescence; the lesbian gym teacher; the nerdy


girl with the recorder, who may have been dressed by her moth- er. Did I mention all of these characters (and many more) are played by just two people? Jo Firestone and Dylan Marron are whizzes with wardrobe — and personality — changes. Overall, the show is great, sil- ly fun but might not appeal to the squeamish or easily embar- rassed. The many hilarious mo- ments are punctuated by some overwhelming humiliation. But this is middle school. Could it be any other way? style@washpost.com


For full coverage of the fifth Capital Fringe Festival, go to washingtonpost.com/fringe.


Polanski case takes another strange turn


los angeles — The Roman Po- lanski case took another strange turn Thursday, with American prosecutors disputing who was responsible for an apparent mis- communication about sealed transcripts requested by Swiss au- thorities. Swiss officials said their re- quest to see the transcripts was denied, a choice that led them to free the director against U.S. wishes. The Justice Department insist-


ed that it notified Los Angeles prosecutors about its decision to reject the Swiss request. But Los Angeles officials said they never heard from Washington. The dispute was not likely to


change Polanski’s status since prosecutors had previously ar- gued against unsealing the secret testimony. But Los Angeles au- thorities maintained they were not asked. The miscommunica- tion was another in a long series of prosecutorial missteps that have dogged the case from its in- ception in 1977. Loyola University law professor


Stan Goldman said the current flap was mostly about attorneys “pointing fingers at each other.” “It’s an embarrassment for the


district attorney’s office,” he said. “It was they who were seeking to get Polanski back, and they have failed.”


Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attor- ney Steve Cooley, declined to com- ment on what prosecutors would have done if they had known of the request.


— Associated Press


You have several good reasons to cancel, with the most powerful being, I believe, your reluctance to essentially spend the partner’s money while quietly despising him. While hurtful, canceling would be a principled stand motivated by your affection for your brother, so the foundation for reconciliation would be built into your actions. You also have several good reasons to go as planned — they’re a couple, so the house is as much your brother’s as it is his partner’s — but you didn’t mention the most persuasive one. Your brother didn’t get into


this


high-risk-betrayal/resignation/ dependency hole overnight; he’s been digging slowly for years.


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Where you see an acute problem, he likely just sees day-to-day life. To him, it’s familiar, routine. For better or worse, family visits remind us of who we used to be — and if this situation with his partner has been chipping away at your brother’s integrity and self-worth, then your presence might help him see how much he has lost. A discreet “I’m worried about you” can give that reckoning a push.


Dear Carolyn: I gave birth to my second child,


a healthy girl, two months ago. I know I am blessed. But. I haven’t heard from some of who I thought were my closest friends. I know everyone is busy, but it’s been two months! I’m not high-maintenance — I did not have a shower for either of my children and I generally don’t like to make a fuss over myself. But being completely ignored after one of the most important moments in my life is extremely hurtful. Should I cut these people out of my life? Approach them with how I’m feeling? Or am I being too sensitive?


Missing my friends


Your friends have blown it, no question — but I’d suggest not taking any kind of stand just yet. Instead, reach out to these friends yourself. Neither hide nor broadcast your feelings. Invite people over — just to catch up — and see what happens. Having them in your presence will help you see whether you’re angry, sad or over it — and whether it’s worth it to say how you feel.


Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost.com.


ONLINE DISCUSSION Carolyn Hax’s weekly Web


chat is at noon Fridays at www. washingtonpost.com/discussions.


KLMNO


R


C3


CAROLYN HAX


Betrayals deserve scorn, but don’t punish the wrong person


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